


Kill Mercy Within

by Darkpurplelighter



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-05-13 17:30:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19255873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkpurplelighter/pseuds/Darkpurplelighter
Summary: After the events of Alcatraz Island, Pyro vows revenge. There is no length he won't go to get it, there was no line he would not cross. The X-Men try to stop the maddened pyromaniac before he destroys everything they have worked so hard to protect.





	1. The Monster You Made Me

Revenge.

He wanted revenge.

It was the only thing that John Allerdyce, no, Pyro, could think of. It consumed him, every second of every day since the battle on Alcatraz Island. Despite the advantage they had in numbers, The Brotherhood had lost the battle when they went up against the X-Men with the majority of the mutant army had either been cured, arrested, or turned into ash by his former teacher, Jean Grey. But the truth was, Pyro didn't care about any of that. The thing that made Pyro's blood boil with rage was what had happened to him.

At first, Pyro had been winning the fight against Iceman. He had him, he had him on his knees. Iceman was finished...he had won. But then from out of no where Iceman turned his whole body into ice and froze Pyro's hands. He had no idea Bobby could do that, and was in too much shock to realize there was still fire surrounding them to continue on with the fight when Iceman lunged forward and headbutted him, seemingly as hard as he could. That's when everything went black.

Not knowing how much time went by as his blurred vision began to come back, Pyro could hear the sound of screaming and people running but had no idea what was going on as he was only half-conscious. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled to his feet and thrown over the shoulder of somebody, then carried off the island by whom Pyro assumed was a surviving member of Magneto's army. Pyro then finally woke up in the back of an ambulance. His head had stopped pounding, his hands were thawed, thankfully there had been no permanent damage. At least that's what Pyro had believed at first.

That was until he heard the voice.

He began hearing the voice several days ago. It was a voice he only recognized from his nightmares. Several days ago he found himself standing in the middle of an apartment somewhere in San Diego with no recollection of how he got there.

"Where the hell am I?" Pyro asked himself out loud as he looked around the living room.

'Don't you remember?'

Pyro spun around, wildly looking for who had just spoke.

"Who said that!?" Pyro yelled. "Who said that!? Where are you!?"

'Go to the bedroom.'

He heard it again. It was like a telepath, like Xavier was in his mind. Hesitantly, he did what the voice said and walked to the bedroom door. Pushing it open, Pyro immediately gagged from the stench and his eyes widened in shock once he saw the two dead bodies. One male, one female laying in the bed, burned to a crisp.

"Did I do that?" Pyro said as he closed the door and back away.

'We did that...and we enjoyed it.'

"Who are you, who's saying this?"

Was he going crazy?

'There's no need to be afraid, John. I brought you here, I kept you safe. So, what are we going to do next?'

"There's no 'we'," Pyro snapped, not caring how it must have looked, talking to some voice in his head. He was far too angry. "I'm going to find Bobby Drake and kill him."

'You want revenge?'

"You're god-damn right I do."

'Then killing him isn't enough. That would be too quick. We need to break him first, take away everything he holds dear. Piece by piece until he has nothing left, until he is begging for death. And then finally grant his wish.'

At this, Pyro began to laugh hysterically. He walked over the couch and sat down. He began to scratch his head.

"You sure have a dark side, pal," he managed to say as his laughter came to a stop.

'We all do.'

Suddenly, a rush of power surged throughout his entire body. Pyro looked down at his hands in shock when his hands grew hot, glowed for a few seconds before a burst of flame came out of both his palms. It made him jump right off the couch, which caught fire. The flames from his hands then extinguished. What the hell was that? He had no lighter, no source of fire. Pyro continued looking at his hands for a few moments before concentrating, and then, quite easily, was able to bring it back.

He got back up to his feet as he continued examining his hands. This must be a dream, or some kind of coma nightmare. First a fucking voice was talking to him and now this? He could create fire now? Maybe Bobby hit him in the head a little too hard.

"Is this real?" Pyro whispered, this time hoping for an answer back. Sure enough;

'This is very real.'

"How am I doing this?"

'We are doing this, John. I am your full potential. I've always been here, waiting for you.'

Pyro smiled.

'Now...Bobby Drake. Where do we begin?'

Thinking to himself for a couple of minutes, Pyro remembered;

"Boston," he whispered. "His family lives in Boston."

It took him a week to travel across the country.

Somehow, even though he had only been there once, the drive there after the school had been attacked by Stryker's men, Pyro was able to recall the route of how to get to the Drake household. It was going on six o'clock at night as Pyro slowly walked up the driveway. There were still slight scorch marks in the lawn, a reminder of his last visit. He walked around the house, carefully looking through the windows until he saw Ronny Drake sitting with his Mom and Dad in the dining room, apparently finishing their dinner. A sick grin came over Pyro's face as a large fireball formed in his right hand.

The last thing he saw was the Drake home exploding in flame.

'Horror...' the voice whispered to him. 'Death...pain...I want more.'

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ororo."

Ororo Munroe jumped, a squeak arising from her leather chair when a deep male voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see that Forge, a former X-Man who had returned to help out with the teaching in this semester.

Forge's mutation was that he had a superhuman talent for invention and was a intuitive genius. Forge had fought in the Vietnam War and lost an arm and a leg in an explosion. Once he recovered, Forge discovered his talents when he created a cybernetic replacement for his lost limbs and was soon hired as an employee of the defense department. That was when he was discovered by Charles Xavier and brought to the mansion. Forge was instrumental in creating the Danger Room as well as putting the finishing touches on Cerebro.

"The new students have gathered, Ororo." Forge finished.

"Thank you, Forge," she responded, "I'll be out in a minute."

Forge nodded and turned to the leave the office. Ororo signed a few more papers before getting up and crossing the office that once belonged to Professor Xavier. Her eyes caught the motorized wheelchair that once belonged to the founder of Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters before heading out the door. The office belonged to her now and it was still taking some getting use to.

Taking a deep breath, Ororo walked to the lobby of the mansion where four new students were standing together along with the teachers they would be learning from. Logan stood with his arms crossed, Ororo assumed the events of Alcatraz were still taking it's toll on him. It was likely still taking it's toll on everyone. But life needed to move on, and as hard as it might be, this was moving on.

"Welcome, everyone," she said aloud, "To Xavier Academy. My name is Ororo Munroe, headmistress and professor. As you already know, the goal of the Academy, as set out by its founder and namesake, Professor Charles Xavier, is to not only educate you in life, but to also help you control and optimize your mutant abilities. Now, why don't we start off by you introducing yourselves, and telling us what your ability is?"

She then looked to a blonde haired girl that was standing off to the far right. She had a punk-rock look to her and Ororo wondered if she had any interest in singing or performing.

"My name is Alison Blare," the girl stated. "I can covert sound into light beams."

Ororo nodded and looked to the boy standing next to her. He had a blonde crew cut and a pretty good build.

"Sam Guthrie, I can fly at the speed of a jet."

The men standing around all seemed to be impressed by that.

"Rahne Sinclair," the small girl with long black hair then stated, "I can turn into a wolf."

"Interesting," Ororo stated. She then looked to the last student, a tall Native American teenager.

"James Proudstar," he spoke in a deep voice. He then shrugged. "I can do a lot."

"And what would 'a lot' be?" Logan then asked, much to Ororo's surprise.

"I have enhanced senses of sight, smell, hearing. I can see in darkness and can sense danger coming from miles away," Proudstar then continued, "I have enhanced strength, and I can run and swim faster than any Olympic gold medalist."

Logan then smirked. This kid certainly had X-Men potential written all over him.

"We are pleased to have you all," Ororo spoke again. "You may or may not be aware that there have been many changes in the school within the past year."

The others looked down at the floor. Changes was one way of putting it. Another way of putting it was that three of the former teachers were dead.

"Xavier Academy," she continued, "will now look slightly different than the school we once knew. Old friends, old students of the school have returned to help continue your education."

She motioned her hand to a red haired man in his late forties who was wearing a green turtle neck sweater. His code name was Banshee and he was one of the members of the original X-Men team. Ororo contacting him, hoping that she could get him to come in and help and fortunately for her, he agreed.

"This is Professor Sean Cassidy, he will be teaching English class. His daughter Theresa also attends this school, you'll likely be in classes with her. Professor Logan will be teaching health and physical education."

Logan shook his head. The term 'professor' was going to take some getting use to.

"Finally, this is Professor Forge, the history teacher. I will be teaching you all science. We are still looking to bring in a math professor. In the meantime,"

Ororo then looked to the youngest of the X-Men who were standing together and introduced them as well;

"Bobby Drake, Kitty Pryde, and Pitor Rasputin. They all just recently graduated. If you need help with anything, do not hesitate to ask them."

She was finishing up and about to take them on a tour of the mansion when Warren Worthington III entered the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Warren said before looking to Bobby. "There's a phone call for you from your aunt. She says it's an emergency."

Everyone looked to Bobby as his brows furrowed and followed Warren out of the room at a brisk pace. He reached the study and picked up the telephone that had been resting on the sofa corner.

"Hello?" Bobby asked into the phone. "Aunt Sarah?"

On the other side of the line, he could hear faint sound of a woman crying.

"Bobby…" the woman began.

"Aunt Sarah?" Bobby asked again, now feeling a slight panic begin to course through his veins. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Oh, Bobby," Sarah said through the tears. "There's been an accident."

"What happened?"

Sarah sobbed again.

"There was a fire at your parents house."

That was the only thing she got out before Bobby dropped the phone.


	2. Second Attack

Relaxing at his estate located at Pennsylvania Avenue Hights, Washington D.C., Dr. Henry McCoy was laying in a hammock in the backyard enjoying a rare day off. He was still working with his department in finding and arresting Magneto, but now that he had been cured he was no longer considered to be as much as a threat. A special prison had just been built to secure mutant criminals and several of Magneto's followers had been taken there. Hank had spent his most recent days investigating just much of the mutant cure still existed. Fortunately for him, the cure's creator Warren Worthington Senior was fully cooperating with him, probably because he had no interest in further financing it, seeing as to what it led to.

Hank reached down to pick up his glass of ice tea when of course, his cell phone rang.

He groaned and mentally cursed himself for forgetting to turn it off. Hank contemplated not answering but didn't want to take the chance of ignoring something that could have been important. After waiting another ring, he pulled the phone from his pocket;

"Yes?"

"Secretary McCoy," it was the voice of his assistant, Alicia Vargas. "There's been an attack on the mutant affairs facility."

Hank slowly sat up in the hammock.

"I'm on my way down."

It was about a twenty minute drive from Hank's house to the Department of Mutant Affairs building. When Hank reached his destination his eyes widened when he saw the office that he worked in for almost a year set ablaze with several firetrucks parked outside, fireman fighting against it the best they could. Multiple onlookers stood by as well as the staff who worked inside, and fortunately made it out of the office unarmed.

Getting out of his SUV, Hank continued watching the fiery disaster as his second-in-command, Lucas Bishop came up to him.

"What do we know?" Hank asked.

"Witnesses said that a white male in his late teens entered the building," Bishop informed him. "They claimed to see fire coming from his hands. The sprinkler system offset a lot of the damage. We managed to get a hold of the security footage."

"Good."

Hank and Bishop then drove their way to the F.B.I Headquarters which was located just a few blocks away. The entered a private room with a monitor to view the footage. Sure enough, they saw the teen that had been described and Hank's eyes widened when he shot a massive fireball right into what was Hank's office. Bishop looked over at his boss. If he had been there today, that blast would have killed him. They continued watching as the mutant began attacking security that came at him. 

One wave of the hand sent a massive stream of fire at them, instantly turning their bodies into ash. The mutant then entered Hank's burning office. After a few minutes he came out with a couple of files in hand.

Bishop then paused the video on the mutants face.

"Do you recognize him?" He asked.

"Yes," Hank said before taking a deep breath. "He calls himself Pyro. He was a member of Magneto's Brotherhood."

"Any idea on what files he could have taken?"

"No idea. Not unless I can go back to my office and check for myself. But that's not an option right now."

"I'll put out a description of him."

Hank nodded but knew was going to have to get in contact with Ororo. They were going to need the X-Men to handle this.

XXXXXXX

Bobby had been missing in action for the rest of the day, ever since he got the phone call and now that dinner had gone by with a no show from the ice-mutant, Kitty was now more than a little worried. Ever since Rogue left to go back and visit her family in Mississippi, not knowing when she would be back, Bobby had been feeling guilty. She had been as well over the whole thing, she hadn't meant to cause a riff in their relationship. Kitty couldn't help the fact that she had fallen in love with Bobby, you can't help when these things happen. If anything, Bobby was the one who pursued her she told herself.

It seemed that Bobby didn't know what to do with himself, it was like he was trying to avoid Kitty for as long as possible ever since Rogue had caught the two of them ice skating on the frozen pond, trying to put off that awkward conversation of where they stood.

But, Rogue had taken the cure in attempt to save her relationship with Bobby, so at the moment Kitty figured that they were still together, but Kitty still wanted to talk things over with Bobby, just to get some form of closure. There just hadn't been any chance to. So much had happened. The deaths of Professor Xavier, Professor Summers, and Professor Grey still broke her heart every time she thought about it. In addition, a couple of students had left the institute and not come back. 

Apparently they had taken the cure.

And while they had lost some students, they had gained others. Not just the new arrives from today, but the kid she had saved from the clutches of The Juggernaut was here. James 'Jimmy' Hawkins was his name, and he was still following her around the school like a puppy dog. Kitty didn't know what his deal was, but Ororo explained that it was probably just a case of 'hero worship'.

Once Kitty reached the door of Bobby's room, she waited a moment or two before knocking.

"Bobby?" After waiting a few seconds she knocked again. "Bobby, it's Kitty."

There was no reply.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "You've been in your room all day."

Again, no answer. Kitty chewed on the nail of her index finger for a second before deciding to take matters into her own hands.

"Bobby, I'm coming in," Kitty informed him. "I hope you're decent." Slowly, she phased herself through the door and into the bedroom. Once inside, she saw that Bobby was sitting on the end of his bed with a look on his face that she couldn't describe. It was like a mixture between sorrow and silent rage. She had never seen him have that kind of look before.

"What's wrong Bobby?"

He didn't answer. She slowly moved closer to him but Bobby sprang to his feet and walked over to stare out the window. The action caused Kitty to take a step back.

"Bobby, you're scaring me."

Another wave of unbreable silence fell over them. Nervously, Kitty watched him for another minute before turning to leave. That's when he said;

"My family is dead."

Kitty turned back around, shocked.

"What?" Did she just hear him right? But Bobby didn't repeat himself. He couldn't.

She walked over and carefully wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Bobby, I'm so sorry."

The subject of Bobby's family had been a complicated thing. Ever since he came out to them nearly a year ago, their relationship drastically changed. After several months, Bobby started getting phone calls from his mother, and it wasn't just a few weeks ago he went back and visited them for the first time since the events of Alkali Lake. Bobby had told her he thought that things were starting to get better between them, but knew deep down things weren't going to be like how they had been before.

"What happened?" Kitty asked, feeling wetness come to her eyes.

Bobby clenched his fists.

"Pyro did it," he growled.

Once again, Kitty was left speechless.

"He blew the house up when they were eating dinner," Bobby went on. "My aunt said they died instantly."

Kitty had no idea how to react. Along with his family, John was another subject they had talked about, why he left, things like that. No matter what, when they saw on the news the broadcast of Magneto's multiple attacks across the world and seeing the fires that were started, knowing who was responsible for them, Bobby couldn't think of John as the enemy. More of a wayward friend that who hopefully come to his senses and return to the school. 

Now that door was shut forever.

"It's my fault," Bobby then said, his voice breaking.

"How could you say that?" Kitty nearly gasped.

"Because I saved him," Bobby snapped as he pulled away from her. His whole hand then turned to ice as he punched the wall, leaving a big hole behind. "I got him off the island! If I had just left him there..."

Bobby then kicked his desk which sent his computer falling over and crashing to the floor. Kitty carefully took his shoulders and led him back to the bed. He sat down with her next to him as she tried her best to calm him.

"You didn't know this was going to happen, you can't blame yourself for this."

This wasn't his fault, this was Pyro's fault. Never in a million years did Kitty think that he would go this far.

Silently, Bobby placed his forehead on Kitty's shoulder and began to cry. He had turned nineteen this year, but t that moment, he felt like he was five years old again, knowing that he no longer had a mother, a father, or a little brother.


	3. Raven's End

The house looked just like the Drake home. Pyro knew it wasn't, for obvious reasons now. He was miles and miles away, on the other side of Massachusetts, but the feeling was still there anyway, an odd tingling sensation at the back of his neck. Pyro stared at the walkway, the porch, and he can hear the gunshot, he can see Logan falling to the ground. And the fire. The sight of cop cars being blown up. The memory makes heat pump through his veins, because that was the moment 'Pyro' was born.

To his surprise, the front door was unlocked as he let himself in. Pyro could hear the sound of the shower running upstairs as he walked through the house. He then noticed that the dining room table was covered in papers, open files, and blueprints. There were piles of fake IDs and driver's licenses spread out on the left side, a sea of faces Pyro didn't recognize. Going into the living room, Pyro turned on the television and placed it on 'mute' before changing it to a news station. They were covering his attack on the mutant affairs building.

'Good. Let them feel the fear creep in. This is only the beginning.' 

Pyro then took a seat on the sofa and simply waited. After a few more minutes the shower had been turned off and the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. A woman dressed only in a white bathrobe came down but froze in her tracks when she saw what or who had been waiting for her.

"Not a bad place," Pyro grinned. "I guess being a traitor and ratting out information to the government can have it's benefits. You should be more careful though. They kept nice, detailed files on people like you. A lot of trouble could be sent your way."

He nodded towards the television screen and she turned to look at it, seeing the story they were covering, seeing the attack. Pyro then cocked his at the woman sitting standing him, looking her over.

'Pale skin, black hair, deep blue eyes. Attractive, by human standards.'

"Why did you give our location away?"

"Don't you remember?" She finally responded, before walking further into the room, right up to him to show that she wasn't intimidated. "The prison on wheels? The cure cartridge? I think you should recall Magneto saying 'you're not one of us anymore.' Then left, naked alone to die or be thrown in jail."

"Mystique-" Pyro began.

"Mystique was the scaled blue woman you knew for a couple of months," she said. "Things are different now. Raven is the woman you see before you now. Raven Darkholme."

"Oh, yes," he replied, his voice darkening. "Your slave name."

Raven shrugged.

"It's grown on me."

"So, how is life as a mere human been going for you?"

"Why are you here John?" Raven asked, ignoring the question.

"Don't call me that."

"I assume that you're looking for Erik. Did he leave you behind as well? I saw on the news what happened on Alcatraz Island."

He shook his head.

"Not by choice," Pyro responded. "But yes, I would like to know where I could find him."

After all, revenge was a short term goal. Mutant supremacy was ultimately what they were fighting for and Pyro was going to need him for that. He remembered standing next to Magneto on top of that hill as he gave his speech to the several hundred mutants that had gathered down below. The admiration, the respect that Magneto commandeered. At that moment, Pyro had never been more proud to be apart of something in his entire life.

"Don't waist your time," Raven then said, which shook him from his thoughts, "He is a human now, just like me."

"What?"

"The X-Men injected with the cure. I thought you knew that."

Pyro grinded his teeth together as fury once again overtook him.

'Magneto was right about them. They really are traitors to their own cause.'

"What was that?" Raven asked.

Pyro blinked.

"What was what?"

"What you just said."

He hadn't said anything. That was the voice.

"Did you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Raven was starting to get annoyed.

"The voice."

"You're hearing a voice?"

"All the time. Telling me what I need to do."

Raven watched him carefully for a few moments before taking a seat on the love seat across from him.

"I think you need to go the hospital, John."

"I don't need a hospital," Pyro snapped, angry that she had called him John again. "I need to find some of the old recruits. Now, I read something about a mutant prison that's been built. Do you know where they're being held?"

"Of course," she said, smiling. "I'm Miss Espionage, remember?"

"And you'll tell me?"

"Of course not."

"And why is that?"

"Like I said, things are different now."

At this, Pyro began to laugh. It first started out as a low chuckle, but it quickly became maniacal laughter. While she didn't let it show, Raven was creeped out by it. Was this really the teenager she once knew? The one that had annoyed her with the constant flicking of a lighter and sarcastic comments. What had happened to him? Once Pyro seemed to calm, Raven spoke up.

"You don't have to keep doing this. You're young, you can start over and try to have a normal life."

"It's that what you call this? Normal? All that crap that's on the dining room table?"

"I try to help mutants in another way, now."

"Help," Pyro muttered.

"You don't have a leader anymore," Raven reminded him.

'We don't need him!' the voice snapped as Pyro shot to his feet. 'He was weak and foolish anyway! He once told us that his single greatest regret was that Charles Xavier had to die! Charles Xavier! We would have burned the flesh from his body if we had the chance!'

Raven was now staring at him, wide-eyed, somewhat in shock. Pyro didn't understand why, he had only stood up. Carefully, Raven said;

"Pyro, there's a file on the prison on the table. Take it and go."

Pyro turned and headed back for the dining room table. After scanning it more carefully this time he opened one of the files and found what he was looking for. Raven then walked in and saw that he had it.

"I guess I do owe you," Raven spoke softly. "After all, you hesitated when Magneto turned to leave me. It wasn't much, but it was something."

"Shoe on the other foot, what would you have done?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

"At least you're admitting it."

"So what happens now?" She asked, wishing her former teammate would finally just leave. Pyro rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

"You know I've always liked you Mystique. You treated me better than anyone at that fucking school, but I can't have you telling the X-Men about me..."

"I'm not going to-"

"That's why I'm going to make this quick."

But before Pyro could do anything, Raven sprang forward with a roundhouse kick that nailed him right in the chest, launching him over the table, sending the contents flying everywhere. Pyro shook his head as the wind had been knocked out of him.

'Damn. That bitch really is good.'

Raven jumped and landed on the desk as Pyro stood up. She kicked out with both feet before jumping on top of him and swung her fist down to his face. Pyro's vision blurred for a moment before he caught her next punch and threw her into the wall which her head smacked right into.

"I guess the cure didn't take everything away from you," Pyro spat.

"I've been fighting since before you were born," Raven replied, groggy as threw a knee into his crotch. "Takes years of practice."

"Rrrrgh," Pyro groaned as he bent over. Raven was back on her feet and grabbed a hold of Pyro's shoulders. She intended to throw him backwards but she screamed out in pain and quickly let go of him. She fell to her knees in agony as she looked her hands over. They were red and burned as if she just touched a hot stove.

Pyro grinned.

"Thank you, Mystique. Your assistance has been most valuable."

Raven watched helplessly as his hand formed a fireball before it began to take the shape of a long, sharp sword of flame. She didn't even have the chance to try and dodge as it came down upon her, slashing her with a vicious single swipe. Blood sprayed against Pyro's face as Raven Darkholme collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

'Another body for the fire.'


	4. Random Acts of Violence

Several days later, Kitty accompanied Bobby back to Boston to go over the burial arrangements with the remainder of his family for William Drake, Madeline Drake, and Ronny Drake; father, mother, young brother. The plan now was for them to be cremated since there wasn't much left to bury. Bobby and Kitty were staying at a hotel that was right along Carlson Beach. The sound of raindrops awoke Kitty that morning. She rolled over and immediately sat up when she that separate bed next to hers was empty.

Kitty found Bobby standing on the beach. He was staring out into the Atlantic Ocean as the rain that fell around him turned into hail. She bit her bottom lip for a moment before carefully approaching him from behind.

"Bobby, you shouldn't be out here now," Kitty said, alerting him of her presence. Ice was bouncing off the sand at her feet.

Bobby shook his head.

"I have nowhere else to be."

Kitty frowned as Bobby's voice lacked the usual joyful, almost carefree attitude she had known him to have and loved him for. She hated seeing him like this, Pyro had done what he had set out to do. She stepped up right next to him.

"I'm worried about you."

He didn't respond as the temperature dropped a bit more. Kitty then crossed her arms as the hail that was coming down was starting to go through her transparent form. She shifted her feet impatiently.

"Are you coming back, or what?"

The hail continues to fall seamlessly before finally turning back to rain. Bobby turned around, his eyes glassy and he was soaking wet, looking frozen solid even though he wasn't. Once they got back to the room Bobby changed into a new set of clothes as Kitty came up back up from the lobby with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Bobby and took a seat across from him on her bed as he sat on his.

Bobby took a short sip before placing the cup on the end table. He started rubbing his chin.

"We're going to spread the ashes today," Bobby muttered as he stared at his feet. "It's this wide-open field we would go to with my Uncle Jeffery and Aunt Sarah during the summer. We would cook on the grill and Ronny and I would play games of soccer against my cousins Blair and Casey. I remember once when Ronny was young, maybe seven or eight, he bugged the hell out of my parents about having watermelon this time, but he ate so many damn hot-dogs when it time to have watermelon he only ate one bite..."

Bobby looked up at Kitty and realized he was droning on and on.

"Sorry."

"No, It's okay."

He exhaled heavily.

"I really don't know what to do anymore," Bobby admitted. He was so emotionally drained. When he first found out he wanted to freeze Pyro's head solid, then smash it into a million pieces. That was followed by a night of inconsolable crying. Now, at that moment he didn't have any more tears to shed.

"You don't need to figure that out right now," Kitty assured. "You need to grieve."

"I always wanted to be a member of the X-Men. Ever since I saw the X-Jet rise out of the basketball court, now...I don't know if I ever want to put that uniform on again."

"What do you want to do now?"

"I always thought about going to college one day," Bobby now had his inheritance money his parents put away from him. He guessed he was getting Ronny's as well along with his parents life insurance, but none of that mattered to him. No amount of money was going to make him feel better about this situation.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Kitty leaning forward to kiss him. Bobby was surprised but it quickly faded as he went to deepen it by putting his hands on either side of Kitty's neck but as soon as the kiss began it ended Kitty quickly pulled away and jumped to her feet.

"I'm sorry!"

"For what?" Bobby asked, now really confused.

Kitty shook her head, then brushed the loose hairs from her eyes.

"I'm sorry...you, you just looked so sad, I didn't know what to say or do-"

She went for the bathroom door but Bobby gently took her hand and motioned for her to sit down next to him.

"Its okay, I'm not mad."

He began to stroke the knuckles on her hand with his thumb. Kitty watched him do this for a few moments before looking at him. Bobby had a genuine smile on his face.

"But...I thought..." Kitty spoke, getting his attention. "You're with Rogue."

Bobby let go of her hand and Kitty could have kicked herself for her dumbness. But the Iceman still hadn't taken his eyes off of her.

"I told Rogue that it wasn't what I wanted."

The two of them smiled before Bobby leaned closer and gave Kitty a much deeper kiss. She slowly fell on her back, Bobby gently on top as he began to forget about the nightmare his life had become over the last few days.

Meanwhile, back in Westchester, the X-Men stood together in the War Room, discussing Pyro and the chaos he had been causing. Hank McCoy arrived from D.C. and unfortunately had more bad news for all of them

"Yesterday, police found Raven Darkhole in her home, dead."

Logan shrugged.

"Not much of a loss."

"Well, she had been working with the department of mutant affairs as a informant."

"So, how are we going to handle this situation?" Banshee asked. "I haven't put on an X-Man uniform since my daughter was born."

"We're going to have a hard time tracking Pyro without the Professor and Cerebro." Ororo stated.

"Before I came here I was told of a recent explosion at a fire station in Atlanta, eighteen firefighters dead," Hank took a deep breath, "It's difficult trying to find a pattern in these attacks. They all just seem to be random acts of violence."

"Look, he's just an angry kid, Logan spoke. "With no Magneto, he's got no guidance. Sooner or later he's gonna make a mistake and we'll be there to take care of him when he does."

While Hank wanted to agree with Logan, deep down he was certain that apprehending Pyro wasn't going to be a piece of cake.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

'You have to hand it to them. If you want put a prison where no one would think to look for it, put it in fucking Mississippi.'

Pyro was wearing a black military uniform, standing a good distance away from the mutant prison that Mystique's file had led him to. It was located in the outskirts of Biloxi, Mississippi. Just the thought of all the brother/sister couples living in trailer parks eating mayonnaise sandwiches made him want to gag.

"Fuck," Pyro cursed. "How am I going to do this?"

He knew that trying to roll into the prison, blazing with fire was a bad idea. Security was going to tight and packing heavy machinery. Despite the upgrade to his powers, Pyro was all alone.

'You're not alone.'

"Oh, you."

'Us.'

"Whatever," Pyro snapped. "If you've got any bright ideas, I'm all ears."

'This is the type of situation were it pays to have some soldiers by your side.'

"No shit. Why do you think I'm doing this in the first place? Out of the goodness of my heart?"

'Unleash me, Pyro.'

Pyro shot a fireball from his hand and watched as it froze in mid-air.

'Now is the time to get creative. I can be anything...anything you can think of. Surely you can do better than a simple fireball."

Inside the cells were only large enough to accommodate one person, and each cell was specifically designed to counteract the mutation they had. The guards all had on specialty made armor and were carrying sub-machine guns. Many of the corridors ended with blind corners. Prisoners were only let out two at a time and always under heavy guard. Line ups were taken every hour to make sure that everyone was still in their cell.

The head guard walked his way down a row of cells, staff in hand. He placed it up to the electric signature and a computer voice they referred to as 'Master Mold' said;

"Registered Mutant Signature Detected," Master Mold chimed. "Lance Alvers."

The guard tapped on the next one.

"Registered Mutant Signature Detected," Master Mold said again. "Elizabeth Braddox"

Next.

"Registered Mutant Signature Detected: Fred Dukes"

Another guard came by with a tray of food and slid it under the crack of the cell.

"Feeding time, fat-ass," he said and the two guards shared a laugh.

The head guard then continued his way, checking the cells.

"Registered Mutant Signature Detected: Remy LeBeau."

Next.

"Registered Mutant Signature Detected: James Madrox."

Outside, a lunch break interrupted the monotony of the day for the workers. One guard who stood in the watchtower was ate a sandwich and drank musty warm water from a refilled bottle looked up when something caught the corner of his eye. What he saw made him drop everything in his hands.

It was a rhino, a rhino charging the prison gates.

But it wasn't a real rhino. It was a rhino...on fire. A rhino completely made of flame.

The sight was mesmerizing. So much so that the guard couldn't go for the alarm or yell out to anyone nearby. He could watch as the fire-beast ran closer and closer before came crashing straight through the gates with barbed wire surrounding the top. The rhino continued it's charge and nailed the watchtower, causing it to explode. Guards on the ground finally got over the shock and began firing at it but the powerful ammunition had zero effect. The rhino crashed into hummers and trampled over guards who unfortunately got in its way.

While Pyro couldn't see the devastation his fire-rhinoceros was causing, he could feel it. With every scream and every explosion, made his blood pump faster. The feeling was orgasmic. He started walked closer to the prison and as he did, Pyro made the fire-rhino turn and go straight through the facility itself, leaving a huge flaming hole behind.

Heading through the gates, Pyro observed the damage. Fire everywhere, bodies, carnage.

'So this is what it feels like. To not be held back by anyone.'

Closing his eyes, Pyro let the smoke be taken into his lungs. As he did, a badly burned guard was crawling towards his feet.

"Please," the guard managed to choke out through the pain, getting his attention. "Help us. Get help."

"I'll help you," Pyro said, "Just stay still."

Forming three fire-claws on his right hand, Pyro mimicked Wolverine as he grabbed the guy by his collar and forced him to his feet. The guard cried out, only to go limb when Pyro stabbed him right in the chest. Pyro then looked at the hole in the facility and saw his fire-rhino was standing there, as if waiting for its next order.

The rhino's eyes burned yellow, as did its long horn on its face. The rest of its body was reddish-orange flame. It truly was beautiful.

"Come," Pyro then said as if he were talking to his pet. "It's time to free our brothers."

Pyro then slowly let the guard sink to the ground. As he did, the name on the upper right part of his shirt caught his eye.

"D'Ancanto".

His brows furrowed. Where did he know this name from?

Then, memories of Boston flashed before his eyes. His ankle being grabbed, his powers drained, his very lifeforce being sucked away.

"Rogue," he whispered to himself.

Marie D'Ancanto. Rogue's family lived in Mississippi.

'I'm hungry for seconds. Aren't you?' The voice asked him. 

A low chuckle escaped from Pyro's lips before he got up and headed inside the prison.


	5. Mississippi Burning

XXXXXXXXXX

Rogue was adjusting to life as a human again fairly well.

The past few years, the time she had spent dealing with her mutation, running away from home, being kidnapped by Magneto and almost dying, seeing people she cared about hurt and killed, Rogue couldn't take it anymore. She wanted things to go back to the way things were, before her mutation ever manifested. That's the reason she ultimately decided to take the cure. It wasn't just about being able to touch someone again, it was about getting her old life back. Rogue had moved back to Mississippi and was currently living with her parents whom welcomed her back with open arms once they realized she's taken the cure. She was going to start college in a few weeks, which was great, but the best part of all of this was that she no longer had to wear gloves and be fully clothed most of the time. She no longer had to feel like a prisoner in her own body. Rogue had gotten back everything that she had lost, everything that she had ran away from.

All of it.

And that included her old boyfriend.

Cody Robinson, the boy she was dating before her powers surfaced. The boy she had put into a coma for three weeks. He hadn't remembered a thing about what happened that day, only that he had passed out in her bedroom. Cody hadn't even known that she had been a mutant. The only thing he had been told about Rogue once he woke up was that she had ran away from home and nobody knew where she had headed off to. But now they were together again.

One of the main things Rogue wanted to do upon arriving home was go and see Cody. His family owned a hugely popular and successful seafood restaurant in town so she was sure that he still lived in the area. She wanted to apologize for what she had done to him. Once the two of them locked eyes for the first time in several years, everything the young couple once had came back in that instance. And to her surprise, her pleasant surprise, Cody was single. They could pick up right where they left off. He had never known her as Rogue. To him, she was simply Marie.

Marie.

She was Marie again. She wanted to be called Marie, and think and act like her again. She was sure with time Rogue would remember how to be her again, even if deep down she knew that she could never deny that the school would always be apart of her. But as Marie, she could look back on it all as if it were a bad dream. The powers she hated, that she had never wanted in the first place. When Rogue first arrived at the school she had asked Storm if Professor Xavier could cure her. Storm had responded that it didn't exactly work that way. Slowly, she began to accept that this was going to be her life from now on, because she had no other choice but to accept it. But the cure had given her a choice.

Yes, there had been some good times at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She had made of couple of friends; Jubilee made her laugh and Siryn was a really nice girl. But the main thing that had helped her cope with everything was her relationship with Bobby. Rogue was grateful for her time with him as most guys wouldn't have given her a second look once they found out what her powers were, but he did. He was so sweet, so kind, so understanding. Bobby tried to be more intimate with her. He was convinced, for some reason, that her powers wouldn't hurt him. But she did hurt him, in the bedroom of Bobby's house, just as she knew she would.

After that, Rogue began to wonder if Bobby now felt trapped in the relationship, if he felt like he had no choice but to stay with her. Now, he could move on and be with Kitty or whomever he wanted. Rogue didn't have any bad feelings towards the two of them at all. Now that she was cured she could forget it all...

Even Logan which was going to be the hardest part for her. After all, Logan was the one who had saved her life. He was the one she had the tiniest, stupid schoolgirl crush on. Rogue had absorbed so much of him that he was apart of her for so long.

God, why did she keep thinking about this?

'Because you use to be a member of the X-Men,' her inner voice answered for her. 'You're still getting use to being normal again. You are Marie D'Ancanto, but you were Rogue. No one said you still can't be both-'

"You're awake," said a real voice making Rogue jump.

She looked over at the doorway and saw that Cody had come out of the shower and was smiling at her.

"You're observant," Rogue responded while rolling her eyes.

It was Saturday night and Cody's Dad had given him the night off so they could be together. Rogue's parents were going to be working late tonight so it couldn't have worked out better. After their date they had come back to the house and had sex. It was everything Rogue had thought it would be. Propping up the pillows on her bed, Rogue sat up against them as she turned on the television. A rerun of the 'King of Queens' was on. Cody walked further into the room and took a seat next to her, kissing her cheek as she smiled. He had asked her why she took off. Rogue took a deep breath and promised to tell him someday soon, she just wasn't ready yet.

"I could use a drink," he then said.

"How romantic."

"Do you have anything?"

"My Dad has beer in the fridge."

"Will he mind?"

"If he does, I'll replace it."

"Okay."

Cody got up to head for the kitchen.

"Hey, bring me back one too," Rogue asked.

Cody nodded and continued his way out of the room. Rogue laughed slightly because she had never had a beer before, but on a night of firsts, why not? Rogue continued to watch television, waiting for Cody to get back. The waiting continued as five minutes went by. Maybe he was using the bathroom. Then ten minutes went by. Maybe he was on the phone with someone. Once it started closing in on fifteen minutes, Rogue got up from the bed, worried.

"Cody?" She called down the stairs. "Are you okay?"

No response.

Marie raised her head, staring into the lit hallway. Slowly, she rose to her feet, her legs trembling beneath her. She carefully walked out the door and turned down the hallway, descending the steps. Nervously, she made her way down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom, an awful smell assaulted her nostrils. Something was burning. Had Cody tried to cook something?

"Cody?" She called again.

Rogue ran to the kitchen, what she saw next made her blood run ice cold.

Cody was laying on the ground, up against the stove as he trembled with pain. He had a horrible burn mark on his chest. But before Rogue could move to help him a man walked into view.

John Allerdyce.

Rogue's eyes bulged in horror, so shocked she couldn't speak. She couldn't scream. She couldn't even move.

"Hey baby," he grinned sadistically. "No hello for an old friend?"

The last time she had ever seen John was the day he walked off the X-Jet at Alkali Lake to join Magneto. She and Bobby never really talked about him again after that.

"You know, just being in this piece of shit city makes me fucking sick. I expected you to be in some trailer park with a couple of dogs watching the Dukes of Hazards on the television. Isn't that the life you use to have?"

"How...how..." Rogue managed.

"Did I find you? That's not the question. The question is why aren't you back at the school fucking Bobby's brains out? That's why you did it, didn't you, coward?"

Pyro made his way towards her as Rogue quickly pulled the butcher's knife from the knife block but stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground. She began crawling backwards on her hands as he continued his advancement.

"You don't know a thing about me," Rogue stated as she gripped the knife in her hand.

"There's nothing to know. Other than you're weak."

A small whimper escaped her mouth as she continued crawling, nearing where Cody was as Pyro suddenly formed a fireball in hand.

"You know I ran into Bobby at the cure clinic," he stated. "He said he was looking for you. So why would you want to become a pathetic human again? Just so you could touch your boyfriend? Wrap your pretty mouth around his popsicle? When I saw him again at Alcatraz he looked mighty friendly with Shadowcat."

Rogue continued to back away, no response as Pyro continued to rant on. She had seen him angry, seen him lose his temper, but she had never seen him look like this. John looked absolutely psychotic.

"That had to suck, huh? Giving up who you are, making the ultimate sacrifice for a man, becoming a traitor to your kind. Only to find out that he didn't give a shit about you? Is that why you ran back here?!"

Pyro then sent a stream of fire at the back door, causing Rogue to scream as he cut off her only means of escape.

"Ah well," he said, aiming his hand towards her frozen body, "Live like a traitor, die like a traitor."

She watched as almost if in slow motion, Pryo swung the stream of flame back towards Rogue, who was unable to put up a defense. Flames encircled her, and Pyro could see her clothing ignite with the heat. Pyro smiled and looked on as Rogue screamed and began rolling around in agony, trying to put herself out.

"How did it feel, bitch?" Pyro asked as he began to walk closer. "Grabbing a hold of me on Bobby's porch? Sucking me dry? Believe me, I've been thinking about this moment for a long time now."

Rogue tried pulling at her clothes but no matter how hard she tried to pull them off of her, they stayed plastered to her body. She was going to burn to death. Cody, with all the strength he could muster jumped up and threw himself onto her, smothering the flames with his own body.

"Ah, how sweet," Pyro mocked.

Pyro unleashed more fire on the two of them.

'Burn, burn, burn, BURN!' The voice inside of his head yelled.

It felt too hot to breathe, and Rogue's throat closed in response as if it were trying to keep her lungs from burning. Cody was on top of her, trying in vain to protect her as she was smouldering from the inside out. Her eyes watered as she struggled to breathe, her heart pounding. The room began to spin as Rogue felt like she was going to pass out. The heat oozed over her flesh as unbearable pain enveloped her as Rogue began to scream.

Rogue couldn't see, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, and she could not hope for rescue.

Cody's severely burned and lifeless body finally slumped off of her as Rogue jerked to the side, curled into a ball as she tried to cradle herself into oblivion as finally Pyro took the fire away and darkness finally overtook her.


End file.
